Four Louisville officers, current and former, were federally charged on Thursday (August 4) in connection with the 2020 raid in which Breonna Taylor was killed, per CNN.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday that former police officer Joshua Jaynes and current officers Kelly Goodlett, and Kyle Meany were charged for submitting a false affidavit to raid Taylor's home.
The three officers worked together to produce a "false cover story in an attempt to escape responsibility for their roles in preparing the warrant affidavit that contained false information."
Former police officer Brett Hankison, the only one charged Thursday who was at the scene of the 2020 raid, was indicted on two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law.
These are the first federal charges brought down against any of the officers involved in the botched raid that ended in police fatally shooting Taylor, 26, inside of her home.
“Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” Garland said as he announced the charges.
On March 13, 2020, Taylor was at her apartment with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when police burst open the front door while executing a search warrant, which Jaynes had applied for.
Walker opened fire and hit one of the officers as they entered the apartment. Police struck back, hitting Taylor with bullets multiple times.
The 26-year-old's death sparked months of protests in Louisville and around the nation as the country reckoned with George Floyd's killing and other acts of police brutality.
Before Thursday's announcement, only one officer involved in the deadly raid had been charged.
Hankison faced state charges of felony wanton endangerment but was acquitted on all three in March.
Meany, who testified at Hankison's trial earlier this year, is being accused of lying to the FBI during its investigation.
Garland also alleged that Jaynes and Goodlett "agreed to tell investigators a false story" during a May 2020 meeting in a garage, AP reports.
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